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7 September, 2009
Women of Steel, the women’s organization of ICEM North American affiliate United Steelworkers (USW), has called on the US government to take stronger action against the Honduran military, following the 28 June coup of democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya.
The union’s women’s group pointed to at least 19 cases of rape by police officers since the coup began, and cited a report by Feministas de Honduras en Resistencia that said police are using rape and other forms of sexual assault against women leaders of the resistance to blunt a return to democracy.
In a 31 August letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Women of Steel Director Ann Flener said, “We call upon you and President Obama to denounce the repression and basic human rights violations being carried out by the current illegitimate government and to take all necessary steps to restore President Zelaya, including the withdrawal of the US Ambassador to Honduras; the end of all economic assistance to the coup regime, including monies granted by the Millennium Challenge Corp., and to freeze all assets of the coup leaders.
“As women, we ask you to speak out and stand up against this violence against women …” The letter also asked Secretary of State Clinton to denounce the gender violence in Honduras, similar to her denouncement of violence against women in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Some of USW's Women of Steel
The letter was copied to President Barack Obama, US First Lady Michelle Obama, 17 women members of the US Senate, and several other US government officials.
While the US government has verbally called for the return to power of Zelaya, it has officially refrained from terming the overthrow a coup, which would legally require it to suspend all economic and military aid. The US is Honduras’s chief trade partner.
Most European Union governments have withdrawn their ambassadors, and EU countries in total have suspended US$90 million in aid to the Central American country.
On 30 July, Carlos Reyes, General Secretary of International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers’ (IUF) affiliated STIBYS, was brutally attacked by Honduran police squads while he was peacefully protesting the military coup in the northern city of Tegucigalpa. Reyes, an IUF Executive Committee member, suffered a severely broken arm and other serious injuries.